This was a beautifully written and thought-provoking book about conscience, faith, and being true to one's beliefs. I liked the conversations between Palinor, Benedictx and Cardinal Severo as well as the ones between Josefa and the wolf-child Amara.

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This is from the back cover. "At once a mystery story, an adventure tale, and a medieval fable. Knowledge of Angels is a hauntingly poetic masterpiece set in a time of spiritual crisis not so very different from our own. On a beautiful and remote Mediterranenan island just before the Reformation a strange drama is about to unfold. It begins with the discovery of a feral child, raised by wolves and captured by mountain sheperds. Shortly after, a mysterious princely stranger is found washed up on the beach by local fishermen. What inscrutable destiny has brought these two very different visitors to their peaceful island? Is it a sign of angelic intervention? If so, to what purpose? That is what saintly Cardinal Severo wants to find out. Palinor, as the castaway call himself, is a likable but staunch atheist, which on this island is crime punishable by death. The wolf-girl, dubbed Amara, has never heard the word "God". Enlisting the aid of the island's master theologian, Severo sets up a debate intended to save Palinor's soul--and his life. At the same time he sends Amara to a remote convent where a devoted young nun will teach her to speak but be forbidden to mention the name of God. It is Servero's hope to prove both these wayward souls--and to himself--that man is born with the knowledge of angels."

"A novel set in a time and place other than the here and now, but a novel of importance to the here and now---one that prompts us to grapple with the great questions of trust, faith, understanding. A soul-compelling book that will touch man readers deeply."
Robert Coles, author of The Spiritual Life of Children

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